Forward, March: Improving our leadership skills is a goal to which we all can aspire.

Leadership isn't just about controlling the marketing message. We can call ourselves thought leaders, but whether we really influence someone else's thoughts probably has more to do with our actions as leaders. Instead, leadership is about doing -- and doing the right thing for the company and the team. It helps to be in reality and not be too selfish. "Never appear to be warmer than your troops" is one of the main tenets of a good military leader. It means the higher up is aware of what the foot soldiers are going though, and he or she knows that personal actions can have a positive or detrimental effect on the foot soldiers' morale. Also, that the foot soldier is important to the whole effort. As our career engineer, Ruth Glover, shows in her second post of a two-part blog on leadership , being aware of the troops is only one aspect. Other things like "vision," planning,...